RoboS Posted November 20, 2013 Share Posted November 20, 2013 The staff at Westfield parts dept, ( when you get past the voice mail ) are really nice people. However why do they never call you back. Time after time after time.................. If i ran my business the same way, i wouldnt have one!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SootySport Posted November 20, 2013 Share Posted November 20, 2013 Yes they are great. They have too many calls to deal with. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
User0083 Posted November 21, 2013 Share Posted November 21, 2013 I gave up calling parts a long time ago, after discovering emails are answered well and usually within 24hours. So way I would advise contact. As far as running businesses go... Ever tried calling Sky, mobile phone companies or anything else? If you get through to a person it's rare they understand what you're saying or they try to solve your issue by selling you something else!!! Never had an issue with anyone at the factory. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SteveD Posted November 21, 2013 Share Posted November 21, 2013 they allways call me back , they are only human at the end of the day and are doing there best , i think the trouble is these days is people expect to much as we live in a age where people just sit at a pc send a email and if you dont get a response within 10 minutes start complaining ,or expect you to ring back after 5 minutes , the folks in the parts department do not just sit at a desk answering calls they are up and down stairs in and out picking parts for postage dealing with customers checking through kits that are going out ,, and people who go into the parts department in person are asking questions and wanting to talk for hours to them about this and that etc and more importantly there making sure i get my chassis before dave etc etc they are not your local audi dealership they are a small (big) kit car company people seem to forget this unfortunatly i suffer the the exact same issue i cannot answer every call or email or pm straight away or even the same day and sometimes i totally miss pm's emails etc if i sat there answering every call email pm i would never get any work done and people who come into my workshop want to talk cars etc so you end up some days thinking crap i have done nothing today appart from talk and answer the phone etc its hard trying to please everyone and sometimes impossible unfortunatly ,some days i find myself locking myself in the workshop at 6.30 pm and working until 9 or 10 pm thats the only time you can get work done without interuption ,even then people call at 7 or 8 pm i even get calls on sundays and bank hollidays i sometimes wish we could wind the clock back 20 years to when life was much slower and we didnt have the interweb and emails etc and people actually had a life after work instead of being avaiable for contact 24/7 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
7sRWild Posted November 21, 2013 Share Posted November 21, 2013 Well said Steve... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Williams (Panda) - Joint Manchester AO Posted November 21, 2013 Share Posted November 21, 2013 and that's why we are up at stupid o'clock! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dave Eastwood (Gadgetman) - Club Chairman Posted November 21, 2013 Share Posted November 21, 2013 Have recently stopped answering "work" type emails after 8pm, found I was just creating a rod for my own back. All that happened was that some clients emailed later and later and then got huffy/upset if there was no response within twenty minutes. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alexander72 Posted November 21, 2013 Share Posted November 21, 2013 Try the tree industry folks - i'm expected to field emails 75 foot up a tree in the middle of winter!!! The thing I like about my industry (trees and waste management/demolition) is that I know all my customers names, where they live, what they ahd done 9 years ago, how much they paid, what drink they like in the pub, what care they drive, which rugby team they support, how big their fire grate is, when to let the dog out for them if they are at work and so on. I have a database for this (in my head) and i just work with them as the seasons allow. I really respect the westfield team as they remember my car, know who had it before, remember me as a person rather than a CRM statistic so I, for one, am happy to wait for a call back James Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Captain Colonial Posted November 21, 2013 Share Posted November 21, 2013 Have recently stopped answering "work" type emails after 8pm, found I was just creating a rod for my own back. All that happened was that some clients emailed later and later and then got huffy/upset if there was no response within twenty minutes. This - but I'm even more strict, 6 PM latest for work stuff and almost never at weekends, mind I do start work stuff at 7 AM, but if you don't draw the line, you'll get abused and taken for granted. If someone calls me at 5 PM with a job I can't finish in an hour, I won't start it until the next day. People can be jerks and expect the world if you let them think they can have it. My favourite is the "I need it tomorrow" bunch, meaning either "I'm really disorganised but I know you'll sacrifice yourself tonight while I enjoy myself so you can bail me out of the clag", or it means "I'm not going to give you the business but I need another quote to satisfy requirements" - both of these are customers not worth having. The old rule that 20% of your customers will take up 80% of your time is true - if you let them. Back to the factory, either call first thing, certainly before 10, or email with the fullest possible details - you're not helping yourself if you say something like "I need a brake calliper" and not being specifc - and indicate if you have a deadline and what it is. Calling during lunchtime is about the worst thing you can do, because that's when they're going to be short-staffed, the phone really ringing and numpties like me stopping in to buy things. The guys do a great job, but they're stretched with an unpredictable workload that varies depending on many things. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alexander72 Posted November 21, 2013 Share Posted November 21, 2013 apologies for the typo's - its raining here Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Norman Verona Posted November 21, 2013 Share Posted November 21, 2013 We had a customer who had a large system in the days the backups were done on 1/4" tapes. He really needed 2 tape drives but wouldn't spend the money as he had a security guard on duty overnight who could insert a second tape at midnight. We were at home sitting around drinking with friends when the phone rings at 1am. I let it go to the answering machine and it was this chap begging me to pick the phone up as he had a problem. Turns out the guard had gone up at midnight and the screen had error messages scrolling over at a very fast rate. The guard rang the boss who got out of bed and went to the dealership and then rang me. I ignored him but he was still ringing at 3am, Next day a sent an engineer out and rang the dealer and gave him a real dressing down. He never rang my home again. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RoboS Posted November 21, 2013 Author Share Posted November 21, 2013 We work in service and maintenance of paint finishing plant and as such get calls every hour of the day. Its expected if your in this industry, and we are on site 7 days a week. If its what you sell its what you have to provide, otherwise your customer will go else where. With regard to Wesfield i guess they do try their best, and it may not directly be their fault for not ringing back if their work load is so high. However it is still frustrating if after you have rang 4 times over a 10 day period to chase some parts up, ( and they tell you its in stock), and they promise to ring you back to let you know where they are, and then dont. I would like to buy more parts from Westfield even if they are more expensive as i would like to give them support, but at the end of the day Its all about service. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SteveD Posted November 21, 2013 Share Posted November 21, 2013 We work in service and maintenance of paint finishing plant and as such get calls every hour of the day. Its expected if your in this industry, and we are on site 7 days a week. If its what you sell its what you have to provide, otherwise your customer will go else where. With regard to Wesfield i guess they do try their best, and it may not directly be their fault for not ringing back if their work load is so high. However it is still frustrating if after you have rang 4 times over a 10 day period to chase some parts up, ( and they tell you its in stock), and they promise to ring you back to let you know where they are, and then dont. I would like to buy more parts from Westfield even if they are more expensive as i would like to give them support, but at the end of the day Its all about service. 4 calls over 10 days is nothing if its 4 calls a day then that's a lot Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Norman Verona Posted November 21, 2013 Share Posted November 21, 2013 Reminds me of my lad. I send him an email asking a question. I do not get an answer so I send a reminder. Still no answer. I then send him a stronger email asking him to respond. I get an email informing me he hasn't had time to respond as I keep bombarding him with emails. Another gripe form a very grumpy old man. Can't youngsters (anyone below 45) converse other than by text, email, facebook or twitter? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KugaWestie Posted November 21, 2013 Share Posted November 21, 2013 Another gripe form a very grumpy old man. Can't youngsters (anyone below 45) converse other than by text, email, facebook or twitter? youngster below 45? I tend to pick up the phone and then confirm in writing Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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